


For How Long?

by GirlWhoHatesStuff



Category: The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: M/M, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24900871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlWhoHatesStuff/pseuds/GirlWhoHatesStuff
Summary: A one-shot fanfic.Magnus Bane gets a mysterious call from Isabelle during the night- something is wrong with Alec.
Relationships: Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood
Comments: 7
Kudos: 35





	For How Long?

The call came to me at 4am.

I had been drifting through the indulgent world of sleep, where glitter was plenty and happiness was constant. Later, you’ll see why I wish I had remained there. 

When the high pitched ringing of my cellphone echoed through the apartment, I didn't think much of it. As a well-known warlock, I had many early calls, mostly from demure Shadowhunters making an appointment- although i usually made sure my cellphone was on silent at night, now that we had the kids, who I loved dearly, but dreaded getting to sleep; with Max asking for story after story, and with Rafe being the inquisitive child he is.

Sighing, I peeled myself from the comfort of my soft pillows and glanced towards the side of the bed on which Alec usually dozed. He sometimes left bed in the night to do paperwork, or perhaps go on a walk, I just wish he would leave a note... my feet sped along the rich carpet. For angel's sake, the children would wake up if i didn't sort out the bloody phone. I just had to leave it in the kitchen. I picked it up with a flourish and frowned when I saw Isabelle's number; Izzy wasn't the type to be up at 4am making phone calls to me. Hitting answer, I heard Isabelle's sobs, loud, and heart wrenching, and piercing. She took a breath. 

"Isabelle? Darling, why are you-" 

"Magnus..." She choked out. "Magnus, there was an accident. We need you. Alec needs you to-" 

"Izzy, where are you?" There was some rustling on the other side of the line, and I wasn't surprised to hear Simon's voice. 

"Magnus- it's Simon- we're at the infirmary, something happened to Alec and we- don't bring the kids, okay? Just come here and lock the apartment. Magnus, come straight here, okay?"

The line went dead.

I didn't bother to change out of my pajama bottoms, but I did put a coat on. I closed the loft door and locked it with a swish of my hand; if Rafe or Max woke, they would call the institute if they found us missing. They would be okay. I pounded down the stairs, disregarding my neighbours' slumber. Isabelle did not cry easily- I once saw her get stabbed in the leg with a rather unpleasant looking dagger, she had sighed, pulled it out, drawn an iratze, and carried on. What had Izzy said? What had Simon said? I reached the bottom of the steps and bounded down the street. Isabelle had said there was an accident, Simon had said they were at the infirmary, which made sense of there had been an accident. Simon had also said not to bring the kids.

I got to the Institute door and knocked frantically, forgoing my usual elegance. Jace answered with puffy red eyes and a t-shirt covered in blood, lurching forward to hug me- Jace Herondale was not one to give out hugs- something was wrong with Alec. 

"Magnus," he gasped. "Magnus, it was my fault- i'm meant to protect him- i'm- i'm meant to help him in battle, Magnus-" I listened as Jace fought for air. "I'm so sorry." 

The floor started to move towards and past me, and I was sprinting down the corridor, to the Infirmary, where I stopped dead as I took in the scene laid out before me. 

Isabelle was wrapped in Simon's arms, weeping. Maryse was tearfully speaking with the nurse, and Alec.... Alec was laying in the infirmary bed, looking immensely pale, his eyes were sunken in and closed, the blue I fell in love with hidden, with his coal-black hair wet and sticking to his forehead. I stumbled over to my husband. 

"Alexander..." My eyes began to shed tears as I took his cold, damp hand. I turned to the nurse. "I can help him-" I was choking on my words now, just as Jace had. "i could... i could heal him and- just tell me what's wrong with him and i'll fix him-" 

The nurse turned to me with a calculated, dismissing look. "Mr. Bane..." 

"Lightwood-Bane." I corrected her, it seemed important right then, for everyone to know that that was my husband, that that was the father of our children, that that was the love of my life laying on the bed. 

"Mr. Lightwood-Bane then... ” The nurse said this with a manner I didn’t appreciate. “Alexander was wounded by a certain Greater Demon- he has been inflicted with a venom and, due to the fact that we have no knowledge of said venom, we can't do anything for him- and neither can you. Venom in the bloodstream and warlock magic do not mix, Mr. Lightwood-Bane. You know that as well as anyone. We have, however, used a certain mundane technique which enhances healing, a medically induced coma. It is up to Alec to fight this off. I expect this will be hard for you-" 

"Hard for me?" I looked at the nurse, who was reading all of this off a clipboard. Hard for me. I turned back to Alec, looking at every inch of his face and thinking about what I loved in each part. His eyelashes were long and dark, slightly curled at the ends... his skin was paler than usual, but still held that grace and beauty I loved about it... his lips didn’t look soft as I looked at him then, they looked drained, just as the rest of him was... but I remember them being soft... there was so much to love in Alexander. And there was nothing I could do to help him... it was then that i noticed the bandage wound tightly around his torso, blood faintly staining it. I couldn’t think of anything I loved about it.

I felt a hand gently land on my shoulder, and turned around to see Isabelle, still sobbing, just as she had been on our phone call. We didn't exchange words; there was no need to, we both knew what the other needed without words. Izzy stumbled into my arms, and I instinctively wrapped them around her.

"He'll be okay, he'll be fine, we'll wake up tomorrow, Magnus, and Alec will be there like always. And then- then i'll make us all eggs and toast..." 

I nodded at her. "Or perhaps I should cook," I smiled faintly, hot tears still springing from my eyes. And she did the same. But I knew in my heart that Alec wouldn't be there tomorrow. 

The following nights came and went and the days didn’t linger, but it all felt the same at Alexander’s bedside

I had went back for the kids the morning I found out about Alec. It had been 6am. Jace and I each carried one of them to the institute, but all we could say to their sleepy, innocent eyes was that something was wrong with daddy. That daddy wouldn't be coming home for a while. Rafe was intelligent enough to insinuate certain things about the situation, but he didn't say anything- he knew that Max shouldn't know yet, and I think he knew that I couldn't handle explaining the situation at that moment. So, he continued to sleep in Jace’s arms, and we continued to walk back to Alec.

Since then, I had not left Alec. The nurse- who's name was still unknown to me- reluctantly gave me reports every four hours. He was stable for now. I had called Catarina and asked about these medically induced comas, she had said that in her experience, they worked well - but that she had never used them on a Shadowhunter, so she couldn’t be sure as to how Alec would react. She had offered to come to the Institute as well, but I didn’t think we were prepared to receive guests, so I declined. 

Isabelle shuffled into the room quietly. She had noticed that I had not been leaving for meals, so she had began to bring them to me. Today's breakfast was a hot buttered bagel, which I took a grateful bite from. 

Izzy had been taking care of herself alright- but Clary was the one who made every meal, who brought everyone blankets on the chilly nights, and who encouraged us to take walks. Jace, on the other hand, had been a wreck since the night of the incident. He was either in the training room, or by his parabatai's bedside, as a result, we had grown closer than we had ever been in the past two days, sharing memories of Alexander, entertaining two restless little children, and talking to Alec about how things were going with his treatment; we didn't know if he could hear us, but it cheered everyone up to talk to him. To act as if we all knew he was coming back. 

Jace got up from his chair suddenly, and excused himself. I looked at my Alec. He would have wanted me to take care of Jace. I know he would have... so, for the first time in two days, I wrenched myself from Alec's bedside. 

I followed Jace to the training room, where he took some daggers from a chest, and made his way over to the targets. I watched as he flung them, none of them landing on the bullsye. He knelt down, running his hands through his hair and backed himself towards the wall. Shuffling and cradling himself simultaneously, however that may work, and then, Jace Herondale began to cry. He hadn't cried since the night of the attack, at least to my knowledge. Carefully, I stepped into the room. And Jace, who was staring at me in shock, started to say something. I held my hand up to silence him and slowly came forward, and I sank down to the floor; I held him while he sobbed. 

We stayed in that exact position for about ten minutes before he started to talk to me. 

"It's my fault he's injured." I looked at Jace's blotchy face, he had held this in for far too long. He needed to talk. I let him continue. "I... I was the one who called him, he wouldn't have even been near the demon if I hadn't bloody called him... he got there, and I was about to get myself killed. He shoved me out of the way. If I hadn't called him, he'd still be here. Rafe and Max would still have their dad... if i had just... not... called him..." Jace looked at me, expecting me to leave, expecting me to hit him, maybe even curse him. I didn’t do any of it. 

I... I didn’t know how to react to this... but I still held firm in the idea that Alexander would want me to be there for his parabatai, and I wanted to be there for him too. 

"Jace... it wasn't your fault that Alexander got injured. He would have done whatever it took to protect you. And you would have done the same for him. If... if you hadn't called him that night, you would have died. Alec would have been in unspeakable pain for the rest of his life... he couldn't be happy without you, Jace. Not even I, or Max, or Rafe, could make him whole again after that... he did what he had to do, and I, nor anyone else, blames you." 

Jace looked at me like a lost puppy, then his eyes went wide. He clutched at his left shoulder, and leaped to his feet. He grabbed my arm and dragged me down the steps, through the hallways, all the way to the infirmary, where the nurse was yelling orders at assistants, and the heart rate monitor had been hooked up. I saw Izzy, Clary, and Maryse by the bed, huddled together and silently crying. Jace and I ran to our side of the bed, while one of the assistants tried to escort Max and Rafe out. 

"No!" I called at her. No one had said, no one had stated that Alec was about to leave... but Max and Rafe needed to be here. "Let them stay. They... they need to say goodbye." 

I placed Max on my right knee, and Rafe on my left. And everything slowed as I told them that they had to say goodbye to daddy... 

"For how long?" Max asked. 

"I... I don't know, blueberry." 

They both looked up to me, silent questions in their glistening eyes, and began whispering broken goodbyes to Alec. I held Jace and Izzy's hands under the bed, and we all whispered private goodbyes to the man who had changed so many lives, to a parabatai, to a husband, to a father, to a brother, to a son.

And the heart monitor stopped beeping. 


End file.
